Carphone Warehouse refutes Sony Ericsson Xperia Play delay

Sony Ericsson, Orange and Phones4U wade in

The Carphone Warehouse has confirmed that it will still be shipping the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, despite some networks stating the handset will be delayed.

Vodafone has sent out a notice to its pre-order customers confirming it, like O2, will have to delay the phone and the network has told TechRadar that Sony Ericsson has been unable to fulfil orders:

"Sony Ericsson has advised us that it will not be able to supply the Xperia Play and Arc devices to meet original launch date of 1 April."

Delay

"Unfortunately this means there will be a small delay before pre-order customers receive their orders and the devices made available for sale in our shops.

"We appreciate this is disappoint and are doing very best to resolve as quickly as possible."

However, despite the fact Sony Ericsson has been unable to get its freight out to some networks, there is good news for Xperia Play fans: The Carphone Warehouse has put its hand up and smugly stated it has, like, loads of the new Playstation gaming phone:

"The Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy UK will be launching the much anticipated 'PlayStation mobile' this Friday 1 April 2011."

Graham Stapleton, Chief Commercial Officer for Best Buy Europe, said, "The PlayStation has led the way in games consoles for some time now so it's great to see the same technology and much-loved games packed into a mobile that customers can keep in their back pocket."

We've contacted Sony Ericsson and Orange to see if there will be any further comment on the situation - we'll get back to as soon as we know.

Update: We've been contacted by Sony Ericsson, Phones4U and Orange to confirm that the delay issues aren't as bad as previously thought; more retailers are coming out of the woodwork to allay fears:

A Sony Ericsson spokesperson said: "We can confirm that the Xperia Play handsets are still planned to launch in the UK for 1 April as originally communicated.

However, as of today, we have experience a freight issue that may impact the number of Xperia Play handsets arriving at some retail outlets. This said, consumers can purchase Xperia PLay as of 1 April across a numnber of stores across the UK."

Phones 4U also added: "We're pleased to confirm that people wanting to purchase an Xperia Play tomorrow can from Phones 4U, as we have received plenty of sock and will be launching on Friday 1 April as planned.

And Orange was a lot more succinct: "The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is due to go on sale tomorrow (1 April) as planned."